


Midnight

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-09
Updated: 2002-02-09
Packaged: 2019-05-15 02:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Sequel to "Renewal"





	1. Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

   


 

**Midnight**

**by: Allison**

**Character(s):** CJ, Danny  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Danny  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Sequel to "Renewal" 

As the cathedral of the Washington archdiocese, the basilica had grown used to accomodating the President and his entourage of Secret Service. Upon their arrival at the church on Christmas Eve for midnight Mass the motorcade from the White House stopped one car at a time in front of the marble steps to be greeted by black-suited agents. The First Family, including the seldom-seen elder daughters, along with their various significant others including a nervous-looking Charlie Young (who was not Catholic, but scoring major family bonding points with Zoe Bartlet), filed up to the row usually reserved for them. The President and Dr. Bartlet smiled and greeted the people watching them, while their daughters followed behind as unobtrusively as possible.

The row behind the Bartlets had been kept for any White House staff members who wanted to accompany the First Family to Mass. Leo McGarry stood, naturally, directly behind his boss and best friend, with his assistant, Margaret, at his side. As they filed into the pew Margaret whispered something to her boss. He scowled at her, but turned to Sam Seaborn and gestured for him to sit on his other side, adding, "Leave a space." Sam was about to ask why (and to point out yet again that he wasn't Catholic and wasn't sure why Margaret had insisted he come) when he heard a rustling behind him and looked up just in time to see Mallory O'Brien sliding over her father to sit between them. Oh. Sam beamed at Mallory, who gave him a sedate but sweet smile in return.

As CJ Cregg entered from the back of the church she eyed the pew where the rest of the staff was sitting. Sam was on one end with Mallory between him and Leo - she didn't want to go anywhere near that. Instead she walked up the middle aisle, studiously ignoring the stares and whispers as people recognized her and saw her going to sit with the President, and slid into the pew beside Margaret. Margaret gave her a friendly smile, and Leo leaned over to pat her arm. "Glad you came, CJ."

CJ hesitated for just a second, wondering how much Margaret had heard, and then figured that knowing both Leo and Donna Margaret probably knew exactly what was going on. "How'd it go?" she whispered to Leo.

He knew right away exactly what she meant. "It went well."

"Did he -"

"I saw him afterwards. He looked okay. He sounded more like himself than he has in weeks." Leo shifted so that he could talk past Margaret without uncomfortable twisting. "He left with Donna, she was going to take him to get his hand looked at."

CJ gave an unconscious sigh of relief. Leo caught it and smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "At least we know he'll be well taken care of."

She smiled back, but her eyes were worried. "I'll call him later."

Leo nodded. "Good idea." Then he turned back to face front. Margaret leaned in and whispered, "Josh is okay, right? You're not just telling her that?"

He gave her knee a friendly pat. "He's fine. And you know Donna."

"Right."

In front of them Abbey Bartlet turned around to peek at the crowd assembling for Mass. A familiar face all the way in the back caught her eye and she leaned over her husband to whisper to his aide. The President heard part of what she was saying and frowned at her, but she kissed his cheek and whispered, "It's Christmas, Jed."

Charlie eased past Zoe out of the pew and walked quickly to the back of the church, looking for the person the First Lady had spotted.

CJ was just settling back in her seat and reaching for the hymnal when a soft voice over her shoulder whispered, "We have got to stop meeting like this."

She looked up, the expression on her face managing to be both pleased and horrified at the same time. After all, she was sitting one person away from the Chief of Staff and directly behind the President. In front of about a thousand other people. Now was not the time. "What are you doing here?" she moaned.

He put his finger to his lips and sat down beside her, ignoring her almost panicked gestures of protest. "I'm attending Mass, CJ. We have had this conversation before."

"I mean, here." She gestured at the White House staff.

"Oh." He grinned. "I think I have a friend."

"Danny..."

"The First Lady sent Charlie back to get me and tell me to come sit with you."

"She did not."

"Did you see him get up?"

CJ's glare turned on the back of the First Lady's head. "Yes." She sighed.

"Do you really mind?"

She sighed again. "No."

He covered her hand with his for a brief moment. "Good."

There was a minor disturbance down the row to their left. They heard Leo hiss, "Could you two please not fight in church?" Margaret leaned over toward CJ and whispered, "She broke up with Richard whatever his name is."

"The hockey player?" Danny asked, leaning over CJ's lap to be closer to Margaret. Before CJ could stop her, Leo's assistant nodded. "They weren't really all that serious, she just told Sam that, and -" Margaret broke off abruptly as Leo's arm descended on her shoulders. She turned slowly to look at her boss. "Hi there, Leo."

"Hi," he replied, not cracking a smile or moving his arm from around her shoulders.

"How are you?" she said lamely.

"Margaret, you've met Danny Concannon, right?"

She looked confused, glancing quickly at the man sitting down the pew. "Yeah."

"You do know that he's a reporter, right?"

As Margaret turned three shades of red, CJ stole a look at Danny. He was fighting to keep from laughing. "Stop it," she commanded quietly.

"Okay." His eyes were still twinkling and his lips quivering.

"I mean it."

"Okay."

She sighed and went to bury her face in her hands, but for some reason she leaned over and rested her head on Danny's shoulder instead. "What am I going to do with you people?" she muttered.

Danny, still pleasantly surprised, whispered close to her ear, "I could give you a few ideas."

She suddenly realized what she was doing and sat up straight as if she'd been poked. "Watch it. You're in church, Daniel."

"Yes, ma'am."

In front of them the First Lady's shoulders shook suspiciously, as if she were laughing. Before CJ could commit what would probably be a federal crime, the organist struck up the opening chords of the processional and they all got to their feet. 


	2. Midnight 2

 

**Midnight**

**by: Allison**

**Character(s):** CJ, Danny  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Danny  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Sequel to "Renewal" 

* * *

Christmas Mass at the Basilica was, as was to be expected, beautiful. CJ found herself getting completely lost in the music, with the extra musicians brought in to augment the organ, the choir, the incense, the glowing candlelight, the children falling asleep in the pews across the way. She gave up listening to the familiar words and looked around at her friends and coworkers - trying her very hardest to ignore the reporter on her other side. In front of them, the Bartlet family sat in an orderly row, conscious of their behavior in public as their father's role had taught them. Abbey Bartlet took her husband's arm at one point and didn't let go until she needed to lower herself onto the kneeler. Charlie looked a little faint - he was later to explain that the incense was making him dizzy. Judging from the choking sounds coming from behind him, Sam wasn't enjoying it much either. But despite the heavy smoke Charlie was smiling, and CJ was pretty sure that Zoe was holding his hand. Margaret's head was bent over the missal in her lap, the candlelight making her red hair glow like a halo. Leo spent most of the Mass watching Mallory and Sam and alternately scowling or smiling at his only daughter, but every now and then he would steal a glance at Margaret and smile to himself. The first time CJ caught him she watched curiously, not sure what it meant, but the second time she just met his eyes and smiled back. He had the grace to look a little embarrassed, but he just shrugged and turned his attention back to the missal in his hands.

When the offertory hymn began there was another scuffle down the row - for which CJ was grateful, because it gave her another reason to look down the other way and ignore the infuriating man who kept taking her hand. She was in danger of starting to enjoy it. It seemed that the row was a hymnal short and Sam somehow knew none of the words to "O Holy Night." With a sigh Leo passed his down. He knew most of the words by heart from years of singing, but he still had to look over Margaret's shoulder occasionally. Somewhere in the middle of the second verse she caught on and held the book out to the side so he could see it. He shook his head at her, but after a moment he reached out and helped her hold up his side.

"This is my favorite Christmas carol," Danny whispered from CJ's other side. He'd been watching her watch Leo and Margaret wondered what she thought she was looking at - but not enough to distract him from her.

To his delight she answered, brushing her hair back from her face. "Mine too," she whispered, "especially this part."

Danny had to agree with her. It was the part where the music and the singing were supposed to get louder and stronger and the words said, "Fall on your knees..." He'd always loved that idea, the angels coming in all the glory of heaven. He was a bit more jaded as an adult, but this part of the song still gave him chills. He smiled to himself when he saw CJ rubbing her arms. She had her sleeves pushed up over her elbows and the exposed skin was covered with goosebumps. Since it wasn't cold in the church, he imagined she had the same reaction to the music that he did. He reached out and took her hand, this time holding it so tightly that she couldn't pull away.

"About a thousand people back there, Danny," she whispered.

"And none of them are looking at us," he replied. "It's Midnight Mass. The ones who aren't asleep are singing. They're not staring at you."

"Danny..."

"CJ..." He copied her tone exactly, then dropped to one more serious. "It's Christmas."

She turned fully and looked at him. "Yes, it is," she said after a long moment. She squeezed his hand and he smiled at her. She had always loved that rarely-seen smile - not the smirk, because she saw that often enough, but the real smile. It was - devastating.

"Besides," he added, "these people have already seen us together."

"Not all of them. The holy day Mass wasn't exactly packed."

"Some though. That little old lady even thought we were sweet."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, even though she remembered very well.

"Nice lady. She's in the back with some grandkids."

She fought the ridiculous urge to actually turn around and look. "You are such a liar."

"Am not. I remembered her face."

She shook her head, but she didn't let go of his hand.

When the Sign of Peace came around CJ paused, leaning far enough back against the pew to watch the people around her. A little pleased flurry of noise from the congregation told her that most of them had been watching the President give his wife a very sweet kiss. They both hugged and kissed each of their daughters, their granddaughter, and the rest of the families. CJ hid a grin at the very formal look on Charlie's face when he shook the hand of the man who was simultaneously the President of the United States, his boss, and his girlfriend's father. It was a priceless moment. While Leo kissed his daughter Sam took refuge in shaking hands with the people in front of him - and then, very much caught up in the spirit, with all the people he didn't know in the row behind the staff. When he finally turned back to his own row, he found Mallory watching him with a highly amused look on her face. "Are you laughing at me?" he asked.

"Yup," she replied.

"May I ask why?"

"Because you're cute."

Well, he couldn't argue with that. As he hugged her he caught sight of CJ laughing at him behind Mallory. Not having a crush on CJ, he glared at her. She only laughed harder.

Meanwhile, after Leo had kissed both Mallory and Abbey and all the First Daughters and hugged his best friend, he turned to his assistant. Margaret held her hand out as she had just done to the women behind her (CJ, to her considerable surprise, got a friendly hug from the usually stoic Margaret). She was looking down at her hand, waiting for her boss to take it, and was therefore caught entirely off guard when he swept forward and hugged her. He brought one hand up to her hair and said, "Margaret."

"Yes?" she replied, bracing herself for his usual, "You're a good girl."

He surprised her again. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

Margaret was still reeling when a highly amused Danny - who, there being no luck in CJ's world, had seen the whole thing - reached over to shake her hand.

CJ leaned over to kiss Leo on the cheek, squeezing past a still-stunned Margaret. As she returned to her place Danny leaned forward over her shoulder and whispered, "So - Sam has a thing for Leo's daughter who just broke up with a hockey player, and Leo's assistant has a thing for him. I am getting such good gossip tonight."

She slapped her forehead in frustration but didn't make a move to get further away from him. "When the scandal papers pick this all up I'm going to blame the First Lady."

Then she caught her breath as his arms slipped around her waist from behind. She was caught and completely frozen, not knowing what to do with herself as he hugged her close to him. He leaned even closer and whispered, "Relax. Do you see my notebook out?"

She finally, awkwardly, covered his hands with her own and replied, "I guess not." The look on his face was hurt as she twisted out of his arms, but she only turned around so that she could hug him back. "Merry Christmas, and thank you for keeping me company." It was the holidays, after all. 


	3. Midnight 3

 

**Midnight**

**by: Allison**

**Character(s):** CJ, Danny  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Danny  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Sequel to "Renewal" 

* * *

When they filed out of the pews into the communion line Danny stood back politely to guide CJ in front of him with a hand at the small of her back, just as she remembered he had done before. He stepped back again to motion Margaret in front of him, but she discouraged this gesture (actually she jerked her head toward CJ and kicked him, but CJ didn't see that). So he filed up to the front behind her, with Margaret, Leo, and Mallory following. On the way back, rather than walk around the entire perimeter of the church, they wound up climbing over a half a row of Secret Service agents and Sam. CJ was caught between ignoring Danny's guiding hand on her arm and grabbing it to keep from tripping. She sent the back of Abbey Bartlet's head a glare that could have frozen hell, but her heart wasn't in it.

When Mass ended they all stayed in the pews for a few moments, hugging and saying goodnight and Merry Christmas. CJ left first after saying a quick perfunctory goodbye to the man at her side. As she left she heard one of the younger priests, very honored to be speaking with the Bartlets, say, "And was that CJ Cregg that just left? We watch her on CNN in the rectory sometimes. I didn't know she was married."

CJ whirled around to see if anyone was looking at her, and came face-to-face (almost literally) with Danny, who had been following very close behind her. And had, of course, heard the young priest as well. The smirk was back.

"What am I doing here?" she asked the air. "God does not love me."

"Of course He does," Danny replied smoothly, taking her arm while she was still too distressed to resist. "He sent you me."

"See now, that's what I was talking about," she replied.

"I choose to take that as a compliment," he said easily.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm walking you out of the church."

"You know what I mean."

He guided her around a cluster of people. "What are your plans?"

"Bed?" she replied. "It's after midnight."

"See, that's what I mean. That is not a Christmas Eve, CJ."

"For me it is. And what are you doing letting Leo see you walk out with me?"

"You're paranoid."

"Am not."

"Are so. Let's go for coffee."

"At midnight on Christmas Eve? Yeah, 'cause so many places are open."

Danny grinned. "Then I'll have to come keep you company for a while."

She glared. "Are you crazy?"

"CJ -"

"Danny." Her tone did not admit interruptions. "You and I both know this is not going to work." She softened just a little, so that only he or maybe Josh would have noticed it. "Why start something we can't finish?"

He stepped closer to her on the sidewalk - they had stopped completely, now. "Are you afraid of getting hurt?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Aren't you?"

"Well, I don't know," he said. "I ask you out approximately once a month and you turn me down every time - I must be keeping that fear pretty well under wraps." Something about his tone belied his casual words and her heart melted further.

"We've been over and over this," she said quietly. Her eyes were dark and she was having a hard time looking at him.

"CJ," he said gently. "Standing here, right now, Christmas Eve, family holiday and all that -" She gave him a questioning look and he finished, "Would you like me to hold you right now?"

A denial jumped instinctively to her lips, but for some reason - maybe the look in his eyes that suggested she could really hurt him this time - she said, "If things were different..."

"If they were?"

She sighed. "Then yes."

"Yes?"

"A lot yes."

He nodded. "And if I did - would it really feel any worse to be alone again after?"

She was silent for a long moment. "Honestly?" He nodded. She exhaled sharply. "Where I am right now - no, it probably wouldn't." She looked up at him with eyes that made his heart ache. "I don't think it could."

Conscious of her discomfort at being seen in public, he reached for her waist with only one hand and kept a respectable distance. "Then let me come sit with you for a little bit." She opened her mouth to object and he gestured for her to be quiet. "I'm not asking you to sleep with me, I'm not asking you to go out in public with me, I'm not asking for it to happen again. I'm asking you to let me spend Christmas Eve with you." He saw her wavering and leaned just a little closer. "We both need this, CJ, and you know that."

She looked away, thinking. He took advantage of her silence to add, "And I know you're worried about Josh, and I don't want you to be panicking alone."

She turned sharply on him. "What do you know about that?"

He held out his hands. "No notebook, remember? One night, entirely off the record. I'll come home with you, I'll even hold your hand if you want while you call Josh, and we'll talk, and I'll go home. And tomorrow I'll write a column about the oil reserve. What do you say?"

She only closed her eyes and nodded.


	4. Midnight 4

 

**Midnight**

**by: Allison**

**Character(s):** CJ, Danny  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Danny  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Summary:** Sequel to "Renewal" 

* * *

Danny arrived at CJ's apartment exactly two minutes after she did, giving her just enough time to sweep through the rooms and make sure there was nothing embarrassing or incriminating hanging about. There wasn't, naturally - at home she was neat almost to a fault. He knocked quietly, almost as if he were afraid of drawing attention to himself. When she opened the door he gave her a smile that she would nearly describe as shy.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi." She stepped back and opened the door a little wider. "Come in."

He stepped in, shrugging out of his coat as he did so. "Did you call Josh?"

She gave him a look.

He held out his hands, coat draped over one arm. "Not even a pencil here, CJ."

She sighed and blew her bangs off her forehead in frustration. "I left four messages on his machine before church. He hasn't answered."

"Four?" Danny repeated, coming all the way into the apartment and pushing the door shut behind him. He watched with interest as CJ moved around him to lock the three latches on the inside of the door. "You called him four times?"

She looked a little sheepish, but still definitely worried. "I thought maybe he was screening. He could have thought I was Leo or something."

He tossed his coat over a chair and stepped closer to her. "You know, they could still be at the emergency room. Isn't that where Leo said Donna was taking him?" She nodded, and he continued, "An inner-city ER on Christmas Eve? Packed. They could still be waiting."

She brightened. "That's true. And he might not have checked his messages."

"Why don't you call now?"

"Do you -"

"I said I wouldn't mind."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll call now."

He grinned at her. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

CJ shot him a glare of death. "No."

He laughed. "Okay."

He perched himself on the arm of her couch so he could watch her dial the phone. She turned her back to him as it began ringing, but he could still see her posture stiffen. She said hastily into the phone, "Josh, it's me again. Are you there?" She waited for a second before saying, "Okay, well, please call me." She hung up and turned back to Danny, shaking her head.

"I'm telling you, they're probably still at the hospital. He's had that cut for twenty-four hours now, it's not too bad, they're going to take a lot of more serious cases before him." He could tell it wan't really working. She nodded, but she still looked concerned.

He crossed the room to her, but she backed up slightly as he advanced. Trying to remember that she was upset and to conceal his hurt, he said, "Plus, he's with Donna. She'll take care of him."

"Sure," CJ said too quickly and without much conviction. "I'm going to put some coffee on."

"Okay."

She made herself busy in the kitchen, leaving him to settle himself on the couch. When she returned several minutes later he expected to see her looking more composed, but her body was fairly humming with nervousness. She met his eyes as she sank into a chair and asked quietly, "Do you think he just doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Not a chance," Danny replied. "I've seen you two together. You and Sam Seaborn are his best friends. If he's going to talk to anyone -"

"I know, he has Donna," she finished.

"No, he would talk to you even before her, I think," Danny replied. "Donna's - Donna, but their relationship is different from yours. He would talk to you."

"If he could," she finished, and he mentally kicked himself for introducing that doubt. "Do you think I should -"

"Call again, if it'll make you feel better," he said gently. "Who knows, maybe he just walked in the door."

"Okay," she said, standing up. "Maybe if I just tell him..." She left that thought uncompleted as she started dialing the phone. She turned her back to Danny again and waited.

And then turned back toward him about a fraction of an inch, and held out her free hand. He immediately jumped up from the couch and came to her side, taking hold of her hand between both of his and squeezing it gently.

"Josh?" she said into the phone, and for a second Danny thought he might actually be there. "It's CJ again. Um, I don't know whether you're there or not..." Oh, he thought. Not there. "I just wanted to say -" She broke off and started over. "I just wanted to say that I won't push you, but if you want to talk to me - I'm here. I'm sure Donna's probably said the same thing - actually she's probably still with you, right? I hope she is. Anyway, just - just talk to me. Just let me know you're okay." Her voice cracked a little and Danny rubbed her hand reassuringly. "Anyway, whenever you get this... doesn't matter what time." She hung up slowly and stayed frozen for a minute.

Danny leaned over her shoulder, still holding her hand. "Aren't you glad I didn't let you come home alone?" he said without a trace of teasing.

She turned around and looked at him for a second, as if measuring her options and his intentions. Then she very slowly wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his chest.

He took a deep breath and hugged her back, holding her gently so as not to scare her off. "I'm sure he's fine," he whispered, stroking her hair. "He's probably just not home yet. And when he gets home he's either going to listen to his messages and call you, or he'll go to bed and listen to them in the morning, and call you then. Either way he'll know how much you care about him, and that was the point, right?" From his shoulder she nodded silently. "Okay then. Come sit down for a while? I'll keep you company for a bit, see if he calls back."

She stepped away from him, looking a little embarrassed, and nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I knew you'd be worrying."

She gave him a weak smile as he pulled her over to the couch. "You're devious, you know that?"

"It's one of my many talents."

"I'm glad."

He looked at her sharply to make sure he'd heard right. She smiled back, better this time. He sat down beside her, the beginnings of his familiar smirk pulling at his mouth. "So - what's with the latches?"

She looked confused. "Sorry?"

"The latches." He gestured toward her door, hoping to change the subject. "This isn't exactly a high-crime neighborhood, is it?"

She shook her head. "No. I just - I'm a little nervous, you know."

He frowned. "You know, I don't remember those being here when I brought you home before, after we had dinner."

"Our 'business dinner?'" she asked, almost smiling again. "No, I only had one last year. I got, um, I got a little more nervous after I got shot at."

She was trying to play it casual, but he saw the stiffness in her back and heard the forced note of calm in her voice. He weighed his choices carefully for a moment before reaching for her.

She didn't respond this time, but she didn't pull out of his arms, either. She just leaned her head against his shoulder, her arms trapped against her body.

"This thing with Josh must be bringing it all back," he said gently.

"Yeah," she replied, knowing that at this point denial was useless.

They had never talked about that night. By then their relationship had pretty much deteriorated and they'd never really gotten back to where they'd been before Mandy's memo. He brushed her hair back, trying to ignore her awkwardness. "You must have been scared."

"I froze," she said after a moment of silence. "And then I blacked out. It took me until days later to remember that it was Sam who pushed me down."

"Thank God for Sam," he said sincerely. He paused and added, "I was scared for you. When I heard the shots. I was still inside, but I knew you were already out there."

She nodded. "I'm glad I sent you to call your editor."

"None of the press were hurt," he reminded her.

"Could have been, though. Josh was nowhere near us..."

"Yeah, I know." He rubbed her back for a while in silence. "He's okay, CJ."

"We forgot about him, you know."

"Hmm?"

"After the shooting. All I could do was ask if the President was dead."

"I know," he interrupted. "Katie told me. She said the sight of you asking for him made her cry."

CJ chose to ignore this. "Toby asked me where Josh was and I didn't know. He found him. Josh was - he couldn't even call for help."

"You were scared, CJ," he said kindly. "And you were doing your job, which is thinking about the President. We were all doing our jobs."

"Sam," she reminded him.

"Sam is uncanny," he replied. "And I'm glad of it. Katie told me about that car window, too."

"I would have been hit."

He knew it was useless to deny something she knew for sure. "Yeah, probably. And you weren't. God must be looking out for you after all."

She actually laughed. "Sam Seaborn as the vehicle of the divine."

"Stranger things have happened."

She straightened up and looked at him, a wry smile on her face. "He sent me you, right?"

Danny reached out and very lightly stroked the side of her face. "Yeah."

She closed her eyes. "Danny, I can't."

He nodded. "I know. It's okay. I can." He leaned forward and kissed her, very gently, not passionately at all but feelingly. She fought instinct as long as she could, but it finally won out and she kissed him back, just as carefully, her hands reaching for his shoulders. He pulled away before it got too involved and smiled sadly at her as she opened her eyes. He reached up and brushed his fingertips over her lips. "To tide us over. I should go."

She nodded slowly.

He hesitated. "Unless you want me to stay tonight - see if Josh calls."

A smile broke out across her face. "You wish."

He laughed, relieved. "Okay. Goodnight."

She stood up with him and waited until he had his coat on to hug him cautiously. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, CJ," he whispered.

She stood for a second holding on to his lapels. "And thank you."

"Thank you," he returned. "Will you be okay?"

She nodded.

"Good." He turned and methodically opened the three latches. "I'll see you."

"Yeah."

When he was gone she leaned against the door, forgetting momentarily to close the latches. 


End file.
